RAGE WASN’T A STRONG enough word.
I wanted to fucking kill Marcus. Kill him.
Talon tried to talk me off the ledge. He’d spouted shit about PTSD and fucking scenarios about how the fuck it had come to this, but I hadn’t given one fucking shit. Not until he stated the suicide statistic for vets. I didn’t know who the fuck I was mad at anymore. Fucking everyone. And why the hell hadn’t she told me? I would’ve fucking helped him.
I was a fucking asshole for telling her I’d call the cops on Marcus, but I’d been losing her since the second I’d fucking taken her. I saw the switch. I saw her retreat. Now I knew why. Or at least, I thought I knew why.
“You can walk out that door, but it’s not going to change a damn thing. Not for us or Marcus.” I leaned back so I wasn’t so fucking threatening. “Talon is on the phone right now. He knows the VA system. He’s seen this before, and he knows how to get Marcus help. Let’s go talk to him.” I thought she’d be relieved, but instead her whole face twisted with anger.
“The VA?” she spit the words out. “They’re not helping him at all. None of the medicines they throw at him work. All he wants to do is take every prescription they give him at once and end this.” Tears welled in her eyes. “They’re not doing a thing.” She thumped her chest. “I am. I’m keeping him alive, and if you don’t let me walk out this door, then his death is going to be on your head.”
Jesus Christ. I’d been worried about a fucking blowjob from a damn groupie, and this was the shit she was dealing with? I’d never felt so fucking selfish in my damn life. “Is that why he beat you? You were trying to stop him from taking the pills?”
Her arms crossed, and she looked away. “I need to go get him.”
I pushed. “You thought if he beat the hell out of you, he wouldn’t take the pills? That was your solution?”
Anger flushed her face and I was fucking glad. I’d take her mad over sad any day.
“Yes,” she snapped. “I held them because I didn’t want him to take them and they were too expensive to flush down the toilet. But he wanted them. He wanted to take every last one of them at once.” Her finger hit her chest. “But I stopped him.” She glared at me. “Any other questions?”
A fuck ton. But I’d pushed her enough. “Talon!” I yelled over my shoulder.
His phone to his ear, Talon strode toward the entryway. “Yes… that’s correct. It’s critical.” He nodded at me. “I understand. Thank you.” He hung up. “VA hospital’s waiting for us. They’ll admit him on a psych eval and hold him for seventy-two hours as they adjust his meds.” He glanced at Elyssia. “You know what he’s on, darlin’? He takin’ anythin’ he shouldn’t?”
She was already shaking her head. “You don’t understand. He’s been through this three times now. It never helps. He only gets worse the more medication they give him. He’s not going to agree to this. Not again.”
Talon’s hands went to his hips. “Unfortunately, three, five, sometimes even ten times ain’t enough. I can name a dozen meds off the top of my head, and about a hundred different ways to combine ’em to get what you need. This ain’t an exact science, darlin’. Every patient is different. There’s gonna be some trial and error until they get it right.”
“That’s just it, he doesn’t want to be a patient anymore.” Misery laced every word Elyssia spoke.
Talon ignored her despair. “When did all this start?”
“After his second deployment,” I answered. “That’s when I noticed the shift.”
Talon glanced at me. “What happened on that deployment?”
I glanced at Elyssia. When she didn’t answer, I filled Talon in. “His unit’s Humvee was hit by an IED. He survived because he was next to the vehicle, not in it. No one inside the vehicle made it.”
Talon frowned. “He wasn’t injured?”
Elyssia shook her head. “He wasn’t close enough when it blew up.”
“Not even shrapnel?” Talon asked.
“No.” Elyssia confirmed.
“TBI? Blast wave injury? Concussion? Nothing? Did they check him out?” Talon looked pissed.
“I don’t know what TBI is, but he had a concussion and a ruptured eardrum.” Elyssia picked up her bag. “I need to go find him.”
Talon scratched his chin. “All right, darlin’.” He palmed his keys and tipped his chin at me. “I’ll follow you.”
“Elyssia, stay here. We’ll find him.” I knew at a minimum, my words would piss her off, but I didn’t want her running around after Marcus. And I sure as hell didn’t want her to witness me confronting him.
Her shoulders squared, and a woman I didn’t know surfaced. “Whose brother are we talking about?” Quiet, reserved, her tone was matter-of-fact, but her words leveled me with guilt.
Talon slapped me on the shoulder. “She’s fine. She can stay in the car, Wonderboy.”
Pissed and feeling guilty for being pissed, I grabbed my keys and we took the elevator to the garage level. Elyssia waited until we were in the car to speak.
“We’ll check the house first, then the gym. That’s where he usually goes.”
I threw the Jeep in reverse. “Fine.”
“And if he isn’t willing to go to the VA, then we’re not making him.”
I had to count to fucking ten before I answered. “Then what do you suggest?”
She looked out the window as I pulled out of the garage. “I don’t know.”
“How about the regular hospital?” He needed to get help somewhere.
“His insurance doesn’t cover that.”
Fuck the insurance. “I’ll pay for it.”
“Like you did for me?” Something close to anger laced her tone.
Goddamn it. “I’m not the enemy here.”
“No, you just think you can fix Marcus by throwing more drugs at him.”
I lost my shit. “He beat you!”
“I was holding on to his pills so he didn’t kill himself!”
Jesus fuck.
“What else was I supposed to do?” Her voice broke. “I couldn’t throw them away. He’d need them the next day when he calmed down.”
Trying not to fucking lose it again, I gripped the steering wheel. “How many times has this happened?”
She turned in her seat, giving me her back.
“Elyssia,” I warned. “Not answering doesn’t solve this.”
“This time was the worst.” Her voice turned quiet. “He’s getting worse.”
I couldn’t not fucking touch her anymore. I put my hand on her thigh, but I didn’t apply pressure. “I’m here. We’ll figure this out.”
“You’re only here for like one more day.”
“I’ll leave the tour.”
“I don’t want that.”
Frustration ate at me. “Then tell me what you do want.” Because I’d fucking give it to her.
She threw her hands up. “I want you to live your life, okay? Go back on tour, be successful. Be happy. Share your talent. Just… just don’t waste the opportunity you were given.” She got quiet. “Not on this.”
My jaw locked as I pulled up to her house and threw the Jeep in park. “First of all, I wasn’t given an opportunity, I worked for it. The same way I worked this past year to secure my future if, and when, I decide to walk away from the fame. That life isn’t what I want. Second of all, do not ever think that you’re less important than my career. Ever.” I held my hand out. “Give me your keys and I’ll check inside.”
She blinked. Then she dug in her bag and held out her keys without a word.
She looked so damn fragile, my heart took a hit. “Elyssia.”
“I don’t think he’s here. His truck isn’t here, but I’ll still wait in the car.” She turned back toward the window.
Fuck. I took the keys, and Talon met me at the front door. “She doesn’t want to force him to go to the VA.”
Talon scanned the street then glanced at me. “I don’t give a fuck what she wants. That prick was losin’ his shit.”
I nodded, glad we were on the same page. “I’ll check inside, but his truck’s not here. We’ll try his gym after this, but short of that, I don’t know where to look.”
Talon looked over my shoulder. “What kinda truck?”
“Black Dodge.”
Talon tipped his chin. “Showtime. You ready for this?”
Shit, shit. I turned just as Marcus pulled halfway onto the lawn, blocking me in. “Do I have a choice?”
“No. What’s his name?”
“Marcus Maher.”
“Follow my lead.” Talon was already moving. “Maher!” he bellowed, as Marcus got out of his truck.
Red-faced and spitting mad, Marcus pointed at Talon. “Get the fuck off my property.”
Elyssia got out of the car, and my heart plummeted.
She rounded the front of the Jeep. “I asked them to be here.”
Fury coming off him in waves, Marcus glared at his sister. “Just like your asshole boyfriend, you’re dead to me. I’m getting my shit and leaving.” He took a step toward the house.
Talon moved in front of him. “Two ways this is gonna go down, Maher. We drive you to the VA conscious or unconscious. I don’t have a fuckin’ preference, but your sister does.”
Marcus sneered at Talon. “Fuck you, asshole.”
“Don’t put Elyssia through any more hell,” I warned.
Marcus glared at me. “What the fuck do you know about hell, rock star?” he viciously bit out.
I glared back. “I know the hell you inflicted on your sister.”
“Ben!” Elyssia snapped.
Marcus’s gaze cut to her, and his face fucking fell. “You fucking told them?” It wasn’t an accusation. His shoulders dropped, his step faltered, and his entire body language changed.
I was watching a man break apart, and I didn’t have one ounce of sympathy. “She didn’t say a damn thing. She didn’t have to.”
“Ben, stop.” Elyssia stepped toward Marcus.
“Easy, Stark,” Talon quietly warned, moving in on Marcus from behind.
Enraged, I didn’t listen. “You think you’re honoring your mother’s memory with this shit? You think she raised you to beat her only daughter?”
I’d seen Marcus fight. I’d had him come at me. I’d watched him pound opponents in underground fights before he’d enlisted. But I’d never seen him move so fast, or with such precision.
Whipping a gun out of his back waistband, Marcus trained it on Talon with practiced skill at the same time he reached for his sister. He caught her around the shoulders and yanked her back to his chest. “One more step, and you’re dead, Marine.” His lethal glare on Talon, his gun aimed at his chest, he lowered his head to Elyssia’s ear and whispered something.
Stricken, her face went white and her eyes welled with tears. “Marcus, no.”
Talon held his hands up. “We both know you don’t plan on using that.”
“You don’t know what the fuck I’m planning,” Marcus seethed.
Talon shrugged, casual as hell, like he had guns pulled on him all the time. “I know I ain’t bleedin’ and your head’s still intact. I miss somethin’ else?”
“Stand the fuck down,” Marcus bellowed.
Talon didn’t flinch. “If I was gonna do otherwise, you’d already be on the ground.”
“The fuck I would’ve!”
“You’re losin’ your touch, Marine.” Talon tipped his chin at Marcus’s gun. “Safety’s on.”
Marcus roared out in rage and shoved Elyssia toward Talon. Jumping in the still open door to his truck, he threw it into gear. The tires spun, and he was driving over the neighbor’s lawn before he’d pulled the door shut.
Elyssia fucking fell apart.
With only a split second to make a decision, I ran toward the Jeep.
“Stark,” Talon yelled.
Fuck, fuck. “I’m going after him!”
“Priorities,” he snapped. “Get the fuck over here.”
Shit. He was right, but damn it I wanted to go after Marcus and beat the fucking shit out of him. He pulled a gun, a goddamn gun. Trying to rein it the fuck in for Elyssia’s sake, I walked back and reached for her, but she threw my hand off the second I touched her.
Sobbing, she covered her face and turned her back on me.
Leveling me with a look, Talon put an arm around her and brought her to his side. “Fuck him. Let him go.”
“No.” Elyssia cried harder. “He’s going to kill himself.” She looked up to glare at me. “How could you? How could you say those things to him?”
Talon shook his head once. “He’s not gonna off himself, darlin’. He’s had a gun, but he hasn’t used it. The damn safety was on. He’s not gonna kill himself, sweetheart… not on purpose.”